BOOK REVIEW

ABSTRACTS

A Look at Teaching Standards in ASL
Teacher Preparation Programs

As an American Sign Language instructor working with ASL majors at Gallaudet
University for twenty years, I became piqued by a few questions: Are there
enough ASL teacher preparation programs in the country, and how prepared are
their graduates? This article addresses these topics.

The Effects of Digital Video Quality on
Learner Comprehension in an American Sign Language Assessment Environment

The effects of digital video frame rate and size on American Sign Language (ASL)
learner comprehension were investigated. Fifty-one students were randomly
assigned to one of three video-size treatment groups: 480x360, 320x240, and 240x180 pixels. Within each treatment,
three 30-second videos of signed narratives at frame rates of 6, 12, and 18
frames per second were presented to students. Participants used ASL to retell
each story, while a digital video camera captured their performances and
archived them for evaluation. Three ASL experts evaluated the video performances
and generated a fluency score for each student. The results indicate that frame
rate and the interaction between frame rate and ASL level had significant
effects on learner comprehension, but video size did not significantly affect
comprehension. These results were used to generate frame rate and video-size
recommendations for displaying and recording student performance and instructor
feedback videos in an ASL performance assessment software environment.

Sign Language Acquisition and Use by
Single-Generation Deaf Adults in Australia Who Attended Specific Educational
Settings for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

This article examines the acquisition and use of Australian Sign Language (Auslan)
by 53 profoundly deaf adults (31 male, 22 female) who attended educational units
for deaf and hard of hearing children. The results indicate that, regardless of
age, the acquisition of sign language, particularly Auslan, by deaf people
occurred primarily through association with other deaf individuals. Participants
reported that little (if any) specific teaching of sign language occurred in
these special schools. This had had an impact on the quality of their signing
and possibly the extent of their signing lexicon since they would have used home
signs and school signs. This study concludes that schools must provide
comprehensive instruction in sign language and that it must be taught by
qualified teachers who are fluent in Auslan.